The Rise and Fall of Obama's empire

It was . . . by following the lead of Rome's greatest emperors that Obama won (temporarily) America's awe and devotion.

There are plenty of parallels between Obama's image-building and those used by ancient emperors, but more current examples are there, as well, as the public art of the Nazis and Communists illustrate. I don't think the similarities to the images of Lenin and Stalin are coincidental.

UPDATE: Victor Davis Hanson discusses the same scenario, but as a Greek tragedy. The difference is that in Greek tragedy, the hero was noble, but aside from that quibble, Obama fits the pattern, in which the hero undergoes a terrible downfall, brought about by his own hubris, unkind fate or the will of the gods.

The result was that our Oedipus/Pentheus rushed headlong into socialized medicine, mega-deficits, needlessly polarizing appointments of the Van Jones type, and various federal takeovers, coupled with quite unnecessary editorializing about largely local matters — from the Skip Gates mess to the Arizona immigration law and Ground Zero mosque.

In each case, the supposed uniter deliberately weighed in on these controversies to quite unfairly demonize his opponents — “stupidly” acting police, Arizona xenophobes picking up children on the way to buy ice cream, Islamophobes wanting to deny religious liberty, etc. A thousand other nicks, from Eric Holder’s “nation of cowards” to Obama’s musings that at some point one needs no more income, ensured continual bleeding as his poll numbers fell by nearly 30 points in just 20 months.

The result was that the president soon lost the moral capital to push through an unpopular agenda — to such a degree that his out-of-the-mainstream views and his polarizing style of governance might well destroy Democratic congressional majorities for a decade.

Sadly, he has carried out enough of his agenda to bankrupt the country and take two decades to undo the damage.